Pain in the NBA for the death of Lusia Harris, the only woman in history who was selected in a Draft

A sad news has generated commotion in the most important basketball league in the world: the former American player Lusia Harris-Stewart, the only woman officially selected in a Draft of the NBA, died Tuesday in Minter City, in his home state of mississippi, to the 66 years, as announced by his family through a statement. It is one of the emblems of women’s basketball in its most primitive years.

“We are deeply saddened to share that our angel, matriarch, sister, mother, grandmother, Olympic medalist, basketball queen Lusia Harris, passed away unexpectedly today in Mississippi.”, reported his relatives in a letter, without detailing the cause of death.

Harris entered the history of this sport in 1977 being chosen by the new orleans jazz (which two years later moved to Utah) in the post 137 of Draft of the NBA, the most recognized men’s basketball league on the planet. Although eight years earlier a woman named Denise Long had also been recruited by another men’s team, the San Francisco Warriors, the NBA he ultimately overturned that choice.

That is why Lucia Harris, who had won three college championships with Delta State in cleveland and showed a lot of talent since she was young, she is still the only player to be officially selected in the NBA. He did not participate in training with the Jazz for being pregnant but her case was paradigmatic and marked a historical milestone. She became a basketball coach at the school level.

Harris did not play in NBA nor in any men’s tournament but he did play briefly in the women’s professional basketball league in the season 1979-80.

She also became remarkably famous when she became the author of the first tournament points of the Montreal Olympics 1976, the first in which the women’s teams could compete. Harris and her teammates from the American team won the silver medal, lost the definition to the Soviet Union.

His unique career was brought to the big screen very recently. In 2021, a documentary titled ‘The Queen of basketball’ which was shortlisted for the Oscar.

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